Kevin Anderson Miami Interview March 23rd 2011 - Sony Ericsson Open
K. ANDERSON/N. Davydenko 6 4, 6 3
THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.
Q. What's it about this tournament that allows you to play so well?
KEVIN ANDERSON: Um, well, I think firstly, you know, the court surface I rather enjoy. It definitely, you know, suits my game. I think that would be the first thing.
Secondly, I've always had a bit of time to prepare and get ready for this tournament. I think just the way the calendar is spaced out, it gives you some time to get here and prepare pretty well.
Thirdly, I just think it's a really fun tournament to be at, you know, in the city of Miami and, you know, everything else, which doesn't seem like it's that important. Actually, just, you know, plays into it a little bit.
So I think all those factors, it's a fine tournament, and I'm excited to play. I mean, still, you know, I've won a few matches here, but, you know, not kind of the success that I want to have. But, you know, it's always a great start for me this year, and, you know, you have to take one match at a time.
Q. I know your Illini lost on Sunday night. Does this one today take some of the sting off of Sunday's loss?
KEVIN ANDERSON: Yeah, it was a tough game. I was there with I few other Illini buddies I have living here. Unfortunately, I also had Kansas going through, so I can't be too upset about it. It was a win win situation for it me. (Laughter.)
It was fun. You know, I had a great time at Illinois, and there was a few of my friends actually out in the stands watching me today.
Q. I heard you have the best bracket out of everybody here.
KEVIN ANDERSON: Apparently. I just heard that. I'm reading after Day 1 and 2. Come a long way since coming here a fewer years ago. My brother goes to Morehead State, so I picked them, which was a big; I had Richmond beating them, so I have them going through.
All my Final 4s are still in. I've got Kansas winning it.
Q. Who are the other three?
KEVIN ANDERSON: Ohio State playing San Diego State and Kansas playing Wisconsin. I had to keep the Big 10 in there somehow.
Q. Does your brother play tennis for Morehead?
KEVIN ANDERSON: Yeah. He played No. 1 for them fr a few years. He actually just got here today, so he watched my match. It was, yeah, good seeing him out there.
Q. You have some good wins in your career, but beating Davydenko is a solid effort.
KEVIN ANDERSON: Yeah, definitely. He's always had a great career, and I'm not sure where I know he's not at his highest ranking. But, you know, a player like that with so much experience is always going to be a a tough match.
For me I think it gave me a lot of comfort playing such a close match in Wimbledon. I think it was either 9 7 in the fifth or something. I was two sets to love and a break up in the third, so I felt pretty comfortable in that sense.
That's always important. I was comfortable from the first point. I just felt I had to play my game. In the rallies and how the match was progressing, I felt pretty controlled.
You know, I was pretty happy with the way I played today.
Q. Were you able to pick up any tendencies? You know, you've played him once before. Did that contribute even though you lost, did you still find some tendencies that you could use on court?
KEVIN ANDERSON: Yeah, no, definitely. I think serve's pretty tricky. He mixes up his first serve. He hits it with a lot of pace sometimes, but then sometimes it's pretty soft. So I was expecting that.
I thought I did a great job on his second serve, which I struggled with a bit. He returns so well, so it was really important to mixing up my serves. I threw in some serve and volleys. My second serve I kept him guessing a bit. Even there when I was serving and he gets his racquet on the ball, he makes most of them. You know, from the baseline, you know, he hits the ball really well. He uses the court well.
So for me, it was just important to stay on the front foot and try to dictate play.
Q. In the second set you were down two games to one. You double faulted twice. What was going through your head and how did you rebound?
KEVIN ANDERSON: It was all tricky on that side. The sun gradually creeped over; that game was probably the worst.
You know, I remember that game. I hit a pretty good serve at 30 All, so I was fortunate, you know, I played some of the more important points on that game, which even though it's kind of close, you know, I always kept my nose in front.
But, yeah, definitely felt the beginning of the second set was important just to keep my momentum going, and I was able to control my service games really well, which, you know, went a long way in the outcome of that match.
Q. What kind of mindset were you in after you were able to break the first game?
KEVIN ANDERSON: It's always a good start breaking first game. You know, obviously there was still a lot of tennis to be played, but definitely calmed any nerves out there, and played the whole match, you know, leading from the front, which is always, you know, a good position to be in.
Combining that with I think some good service games gave me a good start, which boded well for the match.
Q. What are your thoughts on the next one?
KEVIN ANDERSON: Garcia Lopez, right? I haven't seen the draw. I just heard.
Yeah, yeah. I know that he strikes the ball really well. I don't know too much about him. I've never played him before. Actually haven't seen him playing that many matches. I've just seen him practice a couple of times.
Yeah, so I will have to, yeah, talk to my coach about it and try and assess it and see how he plays. Most importantly is just have a good day tomorrow and continue playing my game. I think that will serve me the best.
Q. Do you think you would have been this kind of player if you had not played college tennis?
KEVIN ANDERSON: Yeah, it's a pretty in depth question, but I think for me it was definitely the right decision going to college. You know, there was firstly, just coming from South Africa, it was it's just too far to base yourself out of.
Now I think the first thing it gave me was a base to train out of. I've kind of moved up to Chicago right now, but just made me feel comfortable living in the States.
And then just the game, I think I improved quite a lot in the States, not just on the court, but also off the court a little bit. It's such an ideal setup the way it's set up, you know, playing matches in the beginning and I was able to play quite a bit of pro events during the summer.
Also starting out, there was a couple guys like Ryler DeHeart. I was traveling quite a bit with him, and it just made it quite a different experience as opposed to doing it by myself, which would have been the case.
And I think last year there was just some good college tennis being played. I mean, you look at a few of us who have gone pro, and, you know, my last year, the top four of us as well being three of us are top 100, and Jesse Levine was Top 100 as well. He was injured, but I expect to see him back there pretty soon as well.
Q. This is you, John, Somdev?
KEVIN ANDERSON: Yeah, yeah. So we finished top 4 that year, and, I mean, that's a pretty and there's a lot of other good players, as well.
Q. You're playing the top tennis of your career right now. You won in South Africa; you had a great run in Spain. Is there anything you credit your newfound success to? Are you playing with more confidence? Have you altered your mechanics at all or just a combination of everything?
KEVIN ANDERSON: No, I think it's just continuing learning and growing and improving. You know, this year has been good. I've had some good results. But even still, I've learned a lot this year, you know, and it's only sort of you know, the year is just getting started. I have had some good results, but I have had some pretty disappointing results as well.
Yeah, I just have to keep working hard that's what I always sort of rely on and keep getting better. You know, this time last year I think the biggest difference is just the comfort tort of playing anybody in the world.
I think that takes just getting used to, at least for me it did. I'm walking out whether I'm playing Federer or Nadal or Davydenko or anybody, doesn't really matter, I'm just going to go out there and play my game.
So that's something I've gotten a lot better at.
Q. Did you have a chance to talk to Davydenko after the match? Because I know, you know, he's gone through tough times. He's trying to resurrect himself. At one point he was ranked 3 in the world. Did you have a chance to give him any words of advice or talk to him at all?
KEVIN ANDERSON: I just didn't actually see him. But a player like that, I would ask him for advice, not the other way around. (Laughter.)
So, you know, he's a great tennis player, and he's I'm sure we'll see him, you know, back in the top echelons of the game pretty soon.
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